Cockburn to receive lifetime achievement award

Musician Bruce Cockburn is shown in a handout photo. (The Canadian Press/HO-Kevin Kelly)

The Canadian Press
Published Sunday, November 18, 2012 3:55PM EST

TORONTO -- For Bruce Cockburn, the best thing about winning SOCAN's lifetime achievement award is that no one else has to lose.

"The thing I like about it ... is the fact that it's not really competitive," Cockburn said down the line from his San Francisco home this week.

"To me, the competitive aspect of most of the awards that are offered is a negative -- and I just don't think that's what music's about. For this, I suppose there's some degree of competition in that there must be a committee who decides who they're going to give it to, but it's not like you're saying so and so is the 'best' something or other."

Well, SOCAN -- the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada -- certainly felt strongly about Cockburn, anyway.

The 67-year-old, known for his conscientious folk songs and acoustic guitar wizardry, will be honoured alongside Vancouver hell-raisers Trooper and Niagara Falls, Ont., electronic producer and recent tabloid fixture Deadmau5, who will receive national and international achievement awards respectively at a Toronto gala on Monday.

It was Cockburn's stunning longevity that really impressed the SOCAN board, said CEO Eric Baptiste.

"It's pretty obvious that he's one of the most high-profile members SOCAN has who deserves a lifetime achievement award," Baptiste said in a telephone interview earlier this week. "He really fits the bill very nicely."

As Cockburn chats about the honour, the 11-time Juno winner's soft voice is occasionally overwhelmed by the background wailing of his baby daughter, born roughly a year ago.

The crying serves as at least one reminder that while a lifetime achievement award can sometimes feel like a career bookend, the "If I Had a Rocker Launcher" singer is focused firmly on the future.

"The one that really felt like that was getting inducted into the (Canadian Music) Hall of Fame -- aren't you supposed to be dead for this to happen?" he said with a laugh.

"Having done that, this one doesn't feel quite as weird... Certainly, if I remain alive and kicking, the creative process is still going on. It ain't over till it's over."